CEO Sleepout

FAQs

The venue for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout is chosen with the following points in mind:-

•    Iconic and well-known
•    Easily secured
•    Within easy reach of public transport from CBD and further away
•    Offers parking options
•    Undercover areas in case of wet weather, but still open to the elements
•    Good capacity for large numbers
•    Indoor facilities for presentations, toilets, etc

From Vinnies’ experience, people who are homeless do not sleep out in the open if it rains, but instead seek shelter and, similarly, we believe the venue must provide enough undercover shelter for participants in the event of rain. Vinnies has a duty of care to its CEO participants. It would be unrealistic and negligent of Vinnies to expect participants to sleep outdoors in wet weather and for this reason and the points noted above; locations such as open parks, laneways and parking lots are not considered to be suitable venues for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout.

The roof at Etihad Stadium is controlled by the stadium and not by groups who might hire the venue. The roof is only closed approximately 30 nights of the year but it will be closed when the venue decides that it’s necessary for the health of the turf.

Vinnies has no control or say over what may happen with the roof on the night of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout.

The food and drink supplied at the Vinnies CEO Sleepout is kept to a minimum, in keeping with the nature of the event. It is all donated by in-kind sponsors, so none of the money from the Vinnies CEO Sleepout is used to fund the food and drink provided at the event.

Vinnies CEO Sleepout participants may bring cameras and mobile phones (with or without camera functions) to the event. They are also able to bring small, hand-held video cameras along in order to film their own experience. However, participants are not able to bring along extra people to film on the night for them, unless these people are also registered for the event and satisfy the criteria for eligibility.

Please understand if you do bring these devices that they are your own responsibility. Vinnies can not take any responsibility for participants’ belongings.

The Vinnies CEO Sleepout is an event for individual participants and as such, friends and family of participants are not able to attend. Only those people who are registered to participate will be admitted to the venue.

Vinnies work hard to try to gain as much publicity as possible for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. We ask the CEOs who register if they would be willing to take part in interviews and/or photos, in order to help promote the event. This has been the most successful way of gaining exposure, so please consider this when signing up for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. The other way of spreading the word about the event is for CEOs to advertise their participation within their own networks.

As is the case with food and drink, merchandise at the Vinnies CEO Sleepout is kept to a minimum, in keeping with the nature of the event. The small amount that is provided, namely a beanie and sometimes a scarf, are donated to Vinnies by in-kind sponsors. None of the money from the event is used to provide these items for participants.

The Vinnies CEO Sleepout is just that – a Sleepout for CEOs! The event was devised to involve corporate and business leaders and making them aware of the issues relating to homelessness. The event challenges them to help make a difference by financially supporting Vinnies homeless services as well as spreading their newly acquired knowledge on the issue of homelessness.

We appreciate that people would like to bring friends, relatives, etc, but the event was designed to target a specific group, namely business and community leaders, Vinnies encourages them to use their contacts, resources and influence to bring about change in Australia when it comes to homelessness.